


the laurel crown

by alteirkay



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, LeviHan as parents, frankly everyone is a little ooc when it comes to babies but still, might be somewhat ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29410464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alteirkay/pseuds/alteirkay
Summary: “Listen to me brat,” Levi says, holding the tiny body of the wailing baby on the eye level under her arms. “I am not your enemy. I am your goddamn father.”
Relationships: Levi/Hange Zoë
Comments: 13
Kudos: 155





	the laurel crown

**Author's Note:**

> I've changed my username from "kitlovesty" to "alteirkay" so if this isn't the first time you're reading one of my works no need to be confused ^^

“Listen to me brat,” Levi says, holding the tiny body of the wailing baby on the eye level under her arms. “I am not your enemy. I am your goddamn father.”

Kayle, who has been screaming like her little, feeble life depends on it silences for a second as if she had understood what he had just said. She blinks her watery, hazel eyes at him, her pacifier dangles in between her small, pouty lips. For a blissfully quiet second, he thinks she will actually stop crying and let him have at least five minutes of rest, but then she stirs, starts to wriggle in his hold, opens her mouth so large he can see a pair of petty upper teeth and her pink palate then she starts to scream so loud the sound hurts his ears. Like someone who has taken a violin on their hands for the first time plays it right next to him. Not being able to hold onto her mouth, her pacifier falls down and hits the parquet. 

Levi sighs wearily at it. He doesn’t even have the energy to swear anymore. It’s almost eleven pm and he has the worst headache of his fucking life for his one-year-old daughter decided to pick this Sunday night particularly to torment him obviously. 

He balances the still screaming and crying baby on his hipbone and crouches down to pick the pacifier. Then walks out of the living room to get to the kitchen. 

“If you keep screaming in my ear, I’m gonna be deaf,” Levi points out blankly as he opens the water to wash the fake nipple which has no function whatsoever. Levi is sure at this point that it is just a waste of money. “Do you hate me that much?”

Kayle, in return, screams even louder, even little hiccups escapes her mouth and there are tears on her smooth, tiny face. Levi has no idea what her problem is. She is not hungry, and she is not sick. She has even slept for two hours in the afternoon. Frankly, it is a little late for her to be awake, yet no efforts of him had given any fruit when he had tried to make her sleep an hour ago. He had even sung to her for fuck’s sake. What more could he have done? Wag her in his legs? Already done. Walk ten tours around the house with her lying in his arms while swinging her left and right all the time? Done that too. Nothing works. Maybe he should just search it on the internet to see if his insomnia was hereditary. 

Kayle reaches out to the sink, leaning down with her upper body. Levi has to hold her with his other hand to stop her from falling. Then he looks at the sink himself to see what she has found so fascinating. “Huh,” he murmurs. “What do you know, maybe she is just thirsty.”

It is incredibly easy to forget that babies need water too. He curses inside at his own stupidity as he looks for her feeding bottle and finds the spare one inside the kitchen cabinet. It is not easy to work with one hand, but he somehow manages to open the lid, fill the bottle with water and close the lid again. Then gets the bottle closer to her lips and the way she catches the teat fast and her drinking the water as if she has been in a desert for months leaves Levi stunned. 

“I can’t believe this,” he murmurs, as the baby literally devours down the water. “And I blame your mother to be reckless, hah, damn, girl why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Kayle stops drinking and Levi pulls the feeding bottle back. She stares at him and looks endearingly and disgustingly cute with snot and tears all over her face. “Ma…ma?” she stutters.

“Yes, mama,” Levi sighs. “She should be here in an—”

Screams. Louder than before. Levi blinks his eyes in pure shock as to why she has started to cry all of a sudden now. He had thought that he solved the problem. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks as if she can answer him. “What happened now? Did I hurt you?” 

Is that even possible though? Levi drops the bottle on the counter and holds her with both hands, searching for some part of her that would be hurting in some way. It’s not like he can understand but at this point, he is just helpless. He is alone with her almost every day goddammit. Why cannot he find the problem now?

“Mama!” Kayle cries, waving her legs and arms wildly. And Levi understands. 

“Shit,” he sighs. He knows he shouldn’t be cursing in front of his baby daughter, but he cannot possibly punch himself at the moment, so this is the closest way to self-punishment. “Levi, you fucking idiot.”

Kayle yells like she is agreeing with the fact that her father is the moron of the century. 

“Of course,” Levi says and picks up the pacifier from the counter even though he knows it won’t work. “You miss your crazy mother, don’t you?” 

Kayle hiccups as an answer. “Mama!”

“I know,” Levi brings the pacifier close to her lips. “She has an effect like that.”

To his surprise, Kayle takes the useless object on her mouth, and whines with a thin, baby voice as her cries cease slowly. She sucks the pacifier fast and furiously as Levi cleans her face with a tissue. Then she lowers her head to place it on his shoulder. 

It is always weird to see how a creature so little and so small can turn his stomach into a botanical garden, and an easy gesture as this can create waterfalls inside him. He pats her back softly and hopes that maybe she is worn out from crying and will just sleep like this. She makes wet, sucking sounds right next to his ear but they are like a lullaby to him after all those crying. He realizes that he is most grateful for the fact that she is resting now. 

Yet, too soon to get his hopes up. She lifts her head from his shoulder mere seconds later. Her eyes are swollen and red, her sprinkle of brown hair is dishevelled much like her mother. His stomach curls when her face, bright eyes and pretty smile come before his eyes. Kayle is not the only one to miss that idiot.

The baby slams her hand on the middle of his face, causing him to somewhat startle. She pulls her hand back then slams it on his eye, then cheek and at last his mouth all the while sucking her pacifier carelessly. It is as if she takes pleasure in slapping him. She has every right to, Levi realizes. 

“You don’t really like me, do you?” Levi muffles under her small hand.

She stops sucking for a second, and Levi is literally frightened that she might start screaming again. Yet she simply opens her mouth to say, “Papa.”

Levi has become a different man ever since this child was born.

He grabs her chubby hand rubs the place right under her palm with his teeth. It makes her giggle uncontrollably and it sounds better than the birds singing in the early morning. As much as he loves how she sounds though he has to stop for she forgets to breathe whenever he does that. 

He cradles her in his arms and places kisses on her cheek as he walks out of the kitchen to the living room. Levi only allows himself to be physically affectionate with her when they are alone at home. (He unavoidably becomes a subject of mocking otherwise. Hanji is having a lot of fun teasing him.) He kneels down and drops her kindly in the middle of her toys. 

“I should prepare something for your m—” Ups, forbidden word. “I will be in the kitchen. You play here quietly, understood brat?”

She is already distracted with her toys and doesn’t even spare a glance at him as he gets up to leave the room. Once he is inside the kitchen, he checks his phone to see if there are any messages or calls from anyone but specifically—and preferably—from his wife. There is one message which says,  **_ flight got delayed I will be later than planned T^T. _ **

“Great,” he mutters under his breath. Hanji has been away for about four days in order to attend some symposium held in another city which is approximately one and a half an hour flight away from here. It will be quite late when she comes home then, so he settles on preparing a soup rather than anything heavy. If she even drinks it that is. 

It has been barely ten minutes when he hears the cries of Kayle again.

“What is it now?” Levi sighs and drops the knife then follows the sound. Thinking that she is still in the living room he checks that room first but of course she is not there. Ever since she has started crawling it had been fairly dangerous to leave her alone for she had a habit of visiting every goddamn space she could find available. 

“Kayle!” He shouts and the baby screams somewhere inside the house. Panic rises within him like ivy. He takes quick steps in the direction where he hears the sounds. All the while thinking if he had left a window open and almost loses his shit over the possibility. But then he goes to the bedroom, opens the light and finds her tiny little body on the floor, at the foot of the twin bed, clinging to the sheets dangling from it. 

“Aanngghh,” she cries when she sees him. Her face is wrinkled, and wet yet again. Her pacifier tries to hold onto her lips for dear life. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me.” He is so relieved that he only now realizes how loud his heart has been beating in his ears. He walks closer to the baby, reaching out with his arms to lift her from the floor.

But she withdraws, clinging to the sheets and pressing her small figure to the bed. He blinks down at her, arms still stretched, “You can’t stay there, baby. You’ll get sick.”

“Mama!” she exclaims ignoring him, and sobs then sucks her pacifier. “Nnnggghh…” She grunts and clinging to the sheets she struggles to get up. 

“I’ll be damned.” Levi cannot quite believe it himself, but he thinks he kind of understands what she is trying to do. Thus, he lifts her from under her arms and puts her on the bed. Just as he had predicted, Kayle crawls to the head of the bed and tries to open the sheets. Levi helps her, revealing the pillows underneath. Then she tosses, turns and places herself right on top of Hanji’s pillow face down from end to end. And just like that her cries cease, the tears stop, and her eyes are half-closed as she sucks the pacifier, and makes tiny, weary sounds. 

“Holy shit,” Levi curses, still in surprise. “You little traitor. Who stays with you when your mom is at work, huh?”

The baby ignores him and Levi snorts quietly, covering her with a blanket cautiously. Then puts some pillows on the floor and moves the one she is lying on a little to the side. It is almost like a miracle to see how fast she has fallen asleep; her breathing is slow and even, her little shoulders rise and fall peacefully, and she still sucks the fake nipple every now and then. He wants to take it out of her mouth but not before her sleep is deep enough. He leans down to place a light kiss on her temple. The image is so painfully endearing. And he can’t help it. He takes his phone and sends a picture to Hanji. 

His phone rings within seconds. “Levi!” she shouts. 

“Shh,” Levi shushes her. “Don’t yell idiot. She has only just slept.”

“But how can I not?” Hanji whines. Levi imagines her still looking at the photo he has sent her. Possibly talking to him through her earphones. “I miss her so much. Is that my pillow?”

“Yeah,” Levi doesn’t tell her that she has been crying out “mama” before falling asleep. Sending that picture had been already dangerous enough.

“I’m gonna die,” she whispers. Levi catches the slight tremble in her voice. 

“Don’t fucking cry at the airport,” he warns. 

“Too late,” Hanji sniffs.

“You’ll see her soon,” he tries to soothe her. “It’s not like she is going anywhere.”

“But look at her, Levi. I can’t…” Sniffs again. 

Levi rolls his eyes and sits down at the chair in the corner of the room. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Am not,” Hanji objects. “Did you feed her well?”

“Yes.”

“Did you make sure her diaper was clean?”

“I did.”

“Did you—”

“Hanji,” Levi cuts in. “You know I look after this brat more than you do. Stop worrying.”

“I know, but I can’t help it,” she sighs. “Did she cry a lot?”

“More than usual,” Levi replies, observing the relaxed figure of their daughter on the bed—on the pillow more accurately. “But only today, and a little yesterday. She is not used to being away from you this much.”

“My baby,” Hanji mutters. “I’m gonna ask for a day off tomorrow.”

“You should,” Levi agrees. “You’ll be tired.”

“It’s not that, though,” Levi imagines her smiling and it makes him feel at ease. “I miss you both.”

“Hmm,” his mouth curls up as a smile. 

“Would you die if you’d say it back?”

“What’s the point when you already know?”

She laughs and Levi thinks it is the only sound that can compete with Kayle. “I love you,” she says.

“Hmm,” he smirks.

She laughs again, louder this time. “God, no. I hate you. I only missed my daughter.”

“Good luck with trying to fool yourself,” he rests his head on the back of the chair. His body feels heavy as the exhaustion of four days starts to show its effects. 

“Tch,” she copies him, and he just knows that she is grinning like an idiot while doing so. “I’ll see you in a few hours then.”

“Yeah. Get your ass home safely.”

“Why, did you miss it?” Hanji asks mischievously.

“Hmm,” he mutters again.

It makes her laugh again and her laugh keeps his smile in place. “Alright, grumpy. Don’t wait for me. Sleep.”

“Sure,” he lies.

She knows and she sighs, possibly rolling her eyes. “Later then.”

It takes a little too much exertion to remove his forworn body from the chair after they hang up the phone. He checks on Kayle first and relaxes when he sees that she is already fast asleep. Levi quietly takes the pacifier out of her mouth and she turns her head to the other side as Levi puts it on the bedside table. He opens the lamp and turns off the light, leaving the door of the room ajar after him. 

He takes a painkiller for his headache and prepares the soup. It’s almost one in the morning when he finishes every chore there is to do. The living room is clean and tidy, the kitchen is orderly, and the bathrooms are clean as a whistle. When there is nothing left to busy himself, he settles on the couch in the living room, picks up the book Hanji had left on top of the coffee table before she had gone away for the symposium. It is a classic,  _ Frankenstein _ . Levi knows that she had left it there on purpose. She has been nagging him on reading it ever since they have first met. Levi has been putting it off because he had realized that she is irritated by that quite a lot. But now that he has given it a chance, he can see why she has always been so insistent.

_“It is true. We shall be monsters, cut off from all the world: but on that account, we shall be more attached to one another.”_

Levi startles awake when he hears a loud, crashing sound. He shoots off from the couch with panic hot on his blood and Kayle on his mind. The book he has left open upon his chest hits the floor with a clatter. And there are no cries of a baby coming from deep inside the house. Only then did he realize that the lights are off and there is a blanket wound around his legs which almost makes him triple down. 

_ Oh _ , he thinks then.  _ She is at home _ .

She is collecting the pieces of broken glass when he steps into the kitchen. Her hair is damp and tied up in a messy bun and her clothes are casual and fresh. It must have been a while since she has come back. How deep he has slept to not hear a sound? 

“Oh, hey,” Hanji smiles at him sheepishly from where she is kneeling, with broken pieces of glass in her hands. “This is what happens when I try so hard not to make a sound.”

Levi joins her on the floor and helps her pick the big pieces. “You are lucky that the brat didn’t wake up.”

“I kind of wish that she did,” Hanji laughs. “Sorry.”

They clean the floor as much as they can with lots of tissues and after they get up, “Are you hungry?” Levi asks. 

“Not really,” she says. “I ate on the plane.” 

Awkwardly, their eyes are locked and the tension between them is kind of strange. While it is overly casual and mundane, there is something soothing about the way she stands in front of him. Smiling at him in her plain t-shirt and pyjamas. Levi knows that there won’t be a time when she won’t make him feel like he is high on top of the mountains as if it is the most ordinary thing in the world.

“When exactly do you plan on kissing me?” Hanji asks and Levi realizes that they are already standing close enough and that she has asked a very logical question. 

He cups her cheeks in return without wasting another second and bringing her lips close to him he presses his mouth to hers. They kiss slowly, slow enough for him to savour her taste, her fresh smell and warmth. “I miss you,” he whispers against her mouth when they pull apart for some air.

“Hmm,” she murmurs, smiling. 

“Funny, is it?” He smirks as she slides her hand through his hair.

“You were enjoying it very much,” she copies his smirk and catches his smile with her lips. 

Just when he brings a hand to her waist to lift her t-shirt, they hear a long, forlorn cry of the baby coming from the bedroom. Immediately Hanji pulls apart from him, gasping and doesn’t even spare a glare at him as she leaves the kitchen. For a moment Levi stands dumbfounded, his now empty arms stretched out before him and a scene earlier from today comes before his eyes,  _ like mother like daughter _ he thinks gloomily. 

Kayle sleeps on Hanji’s arms when he goes into the bedroom. The baby looks all comfy and tranquil lying in her mother’s hold. Like she sleeps on top of cotton clouds. “Traitor,” Levi repeats as he sits down next to his wife.

“This is the bond of a mother and child, Levi. You wouldn’t understand,” Hanji says priggishly.

“You still don’t even know how to change her diaper,” Levi deadpans. 

“Of course, I do. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You messed up the sheets last time you tried.”

“That doesn’t count. I was in a hurry.”

“In a hurry to show her an ant, right.”

“I did so to keep her safe. She should now that ants are not food.”

“Because she is old enough to understand?”

“She is my daughter. Of course, she can,” Hanji leans down to kiss the baby’s neck. Then she stays there, breathing in deep. “I missed her so damn much,” she moans.

“I know,” Levi says. “I had believed you the first time you said the same thing.”

She kicks him and Levi snorts. “Let’s sleep,” he nudges her side. “You must be tired.”

“I want her to stay here tonight,” she hugs Kayle tighter as if to show him that she has no intention of leaving her.

“Sure.” 

When they lie down in the bed Hanji puts the still sleeping Kayle on his chest and puts her own head on his shoulder, presses her body to him, tangles their legs and then covers the three of them with the blanket. She enjoys sleeping like this quite a lot. Levi would never ever admit it, but he does too. Even though it does make him feel weird but in a good way. It is like running on a cold night, in an empty street and with no aim at hand. It makes him feel strange, but it makes him feel good. 

Hanji traces the lines of their daughter’s face with her index finger, and she smiles. “I miss this.”

“It has only been four days,” Levi points out and puts a hand on Kayle’s back while wrapping his other arm around Hanji’s shoulder. 

“Still,” she sighs. “There is so much I want to tell you.”

“You would die to tell me now, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, yes,” she chuckles quietly. “I don’t think you would listen though.”

“How do you even find the energy?” He yawns and tightens his hold around her. 

“You sound more tired than me.”

“Thanks to your daughter.”

“Oh, she is mine now?” 

“It’s because of your genes. She is so damn loud.”

Hanji snorts and tilting her head back kisses his neck. “Goodnight.”

Levi returns the kiss to her forehead and even though he has just woken up from a few hours of sleep the night is quiet and sleep is being unusually generous for him to decline. Plus with all the exhaustion which is now accompanied by Kayle's soft snores and Hanji's even breaths, it is not hard to let his mind and body get some more rest. 

**Author's Note:**

> I searched for girl names obviously and very much liked Kayle which means "the laurel crown" as you can see from the title because I am a lazy person like that 
> 
> thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> @HERAGRANT this is not necessarily full of levihan babies but it's the best I could manage to come up with :')


End file.
